Tommy Quickly (born Thomas Quigley, 7 July 1943, Liverpool, Lancashire, England) was a Liverpool rock and roll singer in the early 1960s. He was a later signing of artist manager Brian Epstein, whose biggest act was The Beatles.

Spotted as the vocalist with local group the Challengers, Epstein liked Quigley but not the band, suggesting first a name change (to "Tommy Quickly and the Stops"), then pairing him instead with The Remo Four. The next change was in song selection; whilst Quickly's voice was best suited to rhythm and blues, Epstein steered him toward pop songs, starting with his first single, "Tip of My Tongue," written by the Beatles songwriters Paul McCartney and John Lennon. He then made the usual round of appearances on-stage and in public, and was promoted by Epstein as part of his NEMS Enterprises artist stable.

"Tip of My Tongue" was a flop, as were his next four singles. His fifth single, "Wild Side of Life," charted in the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, spending eight weeks in the chart. Described as young, naive and impulsive, and seemingly overwhelmed with matters since parting with the Challengers, Quickly was ill-prepared for the spotlight. When follow-up hits did not materialize, and with manager Epstein unable to push him further, Quickly retired from the music industry in 1965.

Tommy Quickly and the Remo Four can be seen performing "Humpty Dumpty," in the 1965 film, Pop Gear aka Go Go Mania.

Billy J. Kramer (born William Howard Ashton, 19 August 1943, in Bootle, Liverpool, England) was a British Invasion / Merseybeat singer. In sharing Brian Epstein as a manager with The Beatles he enjoyed access to the songwriting of Lennon and McCartney, recording several of their original compositions.

Early career

The performing name Kramer was chosen at random from a telephone directory. It was John Lennon's suggestion that the "J" be added to the name to further distinguish him by adding a "tougher edge." Billy soon came to the attention of Brian Epstein, ever on the look-out for new talent to add to his expanding roster of local artists. Kramer turned professional but his then backing band, The Coasters, were less keen, so Epstein sought out the services of a Manchester based band, The Dakotas, a well-respected combo then backing Pete MacLaine.

Even then, The Dakotas would not join Kramer without a recording deal of their own. Once in place, the deal was set and both acts signed to Parlophone under George Martin. Collectively, they were named Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas to keep their own identities within the act. Once the Beatles broke through, the way was paved for a tide of "Merseybeat" and Kramer was offered the chance to cover "Do You Want to Know a Secret?" first released by the Beatles on their own debut album, Please Please Me. The track had been allegedly turned down by Shane Fenton (later Alvin Stardust) who was looking for a career reviving hit.

Success

With record producer George Martin, the song "Do You Want to Know a Secret?" was a number two UK Singles Chart hit in 1963, and was backed by another tune otherwise unreleased by The Beatles, "I'll Be on My Way." After this impressive breakthrough another Lennon/McCartney pairing "Bad to Me" b/w "I Call Your Name" reached number one. "I'll Keep You Satisfied" ended the year with a respectable number four placing.

Billy was given a series of songs specially written for him by John Lennon and Paul McCartney which launched him into stardom. "I'll Keep You Satisfied," "From A Window," "I Call Your Name" and "Bad to Me" all became international million sellers for Billy, and won him appearances on the TV shows Shindig!, Hullabaloo and The Ed Sullivan Show.

The Dakotas, meanwhile, enjoyed Top 20 success in 1963 on their own with Mike Maxfield's composition "The Cruel Sea," an instrumental retitled "The Cruel Surf" in the U.S., which was subsequently covered by The Ventures. This was followed by a George Martin creation, "Magic Carpet," evoking a dreamy atmosphere with a subtle echo laden piano, playing the melody alongside Maxfield's guitar. But it missed out altogether and it was a year before their next release. All four tracks appeared on a highly-collectable EP later that year.

The three big hits penned by Lennon and McCartney suggested that Kramer would always remain the Beatles' shadow, unless he tried something different. Despite being advised against it, he insisted on recording the Stateside chart hit "Little Children" - the lyrics were allegedly about getting his girlfriend's brothers and sisters out of the way so they could make love. It became his second chart topper and biggest hit. It was Kramer's only major hit outside of the UK. In the U.S., this was followed up with "Bad to Me" which reached number nine. Despite this success Kramer went backwards with his second and last UK single of 1964; another Lennon/McCartney cast-off "From A Window," which only just became a Top Ten hit.

After the peak

The year 1965 saw the end for the Merseybeat boom, and the next Kramer single was "It's Gotta Last Forever," which harked back to a ballad approach. In a year where mod-related music from the likes of The Who prevailed, the single missed completely. Kramer's cover of "Trains and Boats and Planes" saw off Anita Harris' cover version only to find itself in direct competition with its composer, Burt Bacharach's effort, which won the day. Kramer's effort still reached a respectable number 12, but was the group's swansong, as all future cuts missed the chart.

The Dakotas ranks were then strengthened by the inclusion of Mick Green, the ex-guitarist with the London band the Pirates who backed Johnny Kidd. This line-up cut a few tracks which were at odds with the balladeer's usual fare. These included a take on "When You Walk in the Room" and "Sneakin' Around." The Dakotas final outing whilst with Kramer was the blues driven "Oyeh!" - but this also flopped.

The final showing

After releasing "We're Doing Fine", it too missed the charts leaving singer and group to part company. Kramer had a brief solo career which took him eventually to live in America.

The Dakotas re-formed in the late 1980s and recruited vocalist Eddie Mooney and session musician Toni Baker. They still tour and record. Other latter-day members are drummer Pete Hilton and guitarist Alan Clare.

In circa 1983 Kramer released a solo single "Shooting The Breeze"/"You Can't Live On Memories" which failed to chart, despite being a modern pop song and not reminiscent of his older work.

In 2005, Kramer recorded the song "Cow Planet" for Sandra Boynton's children's album, Dog Train. A long term fan of Kramer's, Boynton had sought him out for her project: in 1964, at age 11, she had bought Little Children as the first album she ever owned.

Albino-coloured glasses wearing knock-kneed shoesSeventh church is on his head its on-headed glueSales in the morning, it's a case of the blues oh oh oh

Albino-coloured glasses shooting knock-kneed shoesSecond pair of dockers sang inside of a hoodThis is the morning, a case of the bluesThis is the morning, it's a case of the bluesThis is the morning, it's a case of the blues

Albino-coloured glasses wearing knock-kneed shoesSammy tries to bargain with a celephant JewEveryone knows it's a case of the bluesEveryone knows it's a case of the bluesEveryone knows it's a case of the bluesEveryone knows it's a case of the bluesEveryone knows it's a case of the blues

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Blackbird singing in the dead of nightTake these broken wings and learn to fly.All your lifeYou were only waiting for this moment to arise.

Blackbird singing in the dead of nightTake these sunken eyes and learn to see.All your lifeYou were only waiting for this moment to be free.

Blackbird fly, blackbird flyInto the light of a dark black night.

Blackbird fly, blackbird flyInto the light of a dark black night.

Blackbird singing in the dead of nightTake these broken wings and learn to fly.All your lifeYou were only waiting for this moment to ariseYou were only waiting for this moment to ariseYou were only waiting for this moment to arise.

Brute Force (born 1940) is the pseudonym of Stephen Friedland, an American singer and songwriter. He wrote and performed with The Tokens in the 1960s and wrote songs for Peggy March, Del Shannon, The Chiffons and The Cyrkle. He wrote and recorded the LP I, Brute Force - Confections of Love for Columbia Records in 1967. One song on the album, "No Olympian Height," was covered by The Other Voices (produced by Ellie Greenwich and Mike Rashkow) and released on Atlantic Records in 1968. He also recorded and released the album Extemporaneous on BT Puppy Records in 1970.

Brute Force may be best known for a song that barely saw a release: "The King of Fuh," a delightfully rude song produced by The Tokens, about a "Fuh King," which was admired by Beatles George Harrison (who arranged the record) and John Lennon. Apple Records knew that partner EMI would never distribute it, so the company pressed and distributed 2,000 copies themselves in 1969 (catalogue number Apple 8). There was also a copy of the record on the US version of Apple, without a catalogue number (said to have been created as personal copy for an American Apple employee). Brute Force also attempted to have Major Minor records in Britain release the record but with no success. Finally, the artist issued the record on his own label Brute Force Records with an alternate B Side, "Tapeworm Of Love," which received airplay on the Dr. Demento radio show. More recently, the Revola label issued both "King of Fuh" and its original B side ("Nobody Knows") as bonus tracks on the CD release of Extemporaneous.

After leaving show business for a period of time and working as a paralegal, Friedland began performing in small clubs, and also did some work on the film Ghostbusters. During this time, he renewed his connection to fans of The Beatles, making a surprise appearance at a Beatlefest fan convention in New Jersey, performing "King Of Fuh," and subsequently being interviewed by Brett Alan on a Beatles radio show on WNNJ radio, also in New Jersey.

Brute Force toured England in 2004 with Misty's Big Adventure, playing in Liverpool, Birmingham, London and Nottingham, plus a personal performance of a unique song to thoroughbred mare "Premier Bid" upon the occasion of her 30th birthday in Goole Fields. In honor of Brute Force, the horse's owners named a foal "Special Bru" after the singer in late 2004. In June 2006, The King of Fuh, a musical comedy, was produced at the Players Club, New York City, with Brute Force himself as the King.

Brute Force continues to perform at various venues in New York and other cities.

"I'll Be Back" is a John Lennon composition credited to Lennon/McCartney, and recorded by The Beatles for the soundtrack LP to their film "A Hard Day's Night".

Structure

John Lennon supposedly created the song around the chords (not the melody) of Del Shannon's "Runaway" which had been a UK hit in April 1961. Author Bill Harry wrote: "He [Lennon] just reworked the chords of the Shannon number and came up with a completely different song".

With its poignant lyric and flamenco style acoustic guitars, "I'll Be Back" possess a tragic air. Unusually for a pop song it oscillates between major and minor keys, appears to have two different bridges and completely lacks a chorus. The fade-out ending is unexpectedly sudden, seeming to arrive half a verse prematurely.

Producer George Martin preferred to open and close Beatles albums (and sides) using dominant material. He wrote: "Another principle of mine when assembling an album was always to go out on a side strongly, placing the weaker material towards the end but then going out with a bang". With this in mind, "I'll Be Back", with its subdued perspective, could be considered an unexpected choice as the album closer. Author Ian MacDonald pointed out: "Fading away in tonal ambiguity at the end of A Hard Day’s Night, it was a surprisingly downbeat farewell and a token of coming maturity". Music journalist Robert Sandall wrote in Mojo Magazine: "'I'll Be Back' was the early Beatles at their most prophetic. This grasp of how to colour arrangements in darker or more muted tones foreshadowed an inner journey they eventually undertook in three albums' time, on Rubber Soul".

Recording

The Beatles recorded "I'll Be Back" in 16 takes on 1 June 1964. The first nine were of the rhythm track, and the last seven were overdubs of the lead and harmony vocals, and a guitar overdub by Paul McCartney.

The Anthology 1 CD includes take two of "I'll Be Back," performed in 6/8 time. The recording broke down when John Lennon fumbled over the words in the bridge, complaining on the take that "it's too hard to sing." The subsequent take, also included on Anthology, was performed in the 4/4 time used in the final take.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

In this series, In The Life Of...The Beatles presents the top 10 unreleased recordings of the Beatles.

Paul McCartney purchased at Sotheby's in 1985 a tape of a live set of the Beatles performing at the Cavern circa July 1962. None of it has since seen the light of day, but the song titles alone make it an extremely unique item. The set list includes:

"Hey Baby"

"If You Gotta Make a Fool Of Somebody"

"Hippy Hippy Shake"

"Please Mr. Postman"

"Roll Over Beethoven"

"Ask Me Why"

"Sharing You"

"Your Feet's Too Big"

"Words Of Love"

"Till There Was You"

"Dizzy Miss Lizzie"

"I Forgot To Remember To Forget"

"Matchbox" (vocal: Pete Best)

"Shimmy Shake"

"Young Blood"

"Dream Baby"

Here's an example of what some of it may sound like. This is "The Hippy Hippy Shake" from a few months later, at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany, December 1962:

Cilla Black OBE (born Priscilla Maria Veronica White on 27 May 1943) is an English singer-songwriter and television personality. After a successful recording career, she went on to become the highest paid female presenter in British television history.

Early life and career

Cilla Black was born in Liverpool to a Protestant father and a Catholic mother. She can be regarded as the first and only important female performer to emerge from Liverpool in the sixties heyday of the Mersey Sound, kick-started by the global Beatles phenomenon. Priscilla White, as she was then, was discovered by Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager. His management and George Martin's production skills assisted Black to become one of the most successful British pop singers of the period. She became a formidable ballad singer. Her hits lasted longer than those of any Epstein artist, with the obvious exception of the Beatles themselves.

Determined to break into show business, she had managed to get a part-time job as a cloakroom attendant at Liverpool's Cavern Club, best known for its association with the Beatles. Impromptu performances impressed the Beatles and others. She became a guest singer with the Merseybeat bands Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes and, later, with The Big Three. She was also, meantime, a waitress at the Zodiac coffee lounge, where she was to meet her future husband Bobby Willis.

Epstein had a stable of local artists. At first he showed little interest in Cilla, billed as Cilla White or Swinging Cilla. She was introduced to Epstein by John Lennon, who persuaded him to audition her. Her first audition was a failure, partly because of nerves, and partly because the Beatles (who backed her) played the songs in their vocal key rather than re-pitching them for Cilla's voice. In her autobiography What's It All About? she writes:

“I'd chosen to do "Summertime", but at the very last moment I wished I hadn't. I adored this song, and had sung it when I came to Birkenhead with the Big Three, but I hadn't rehearsed it with the Beatles and it had just occurred to me that they would play it in the wrong key. It was too late for second thoughts, though. With one last wicked wink at me, John set the group off playing. I'd been right to worry. The music was not in my key and any adjustments that the boys were now trying to make were too late to save me. My voice sounded awful. Destroyed — and wanting to die — I struggled on to the end.”

But after seeing her at a later date, at the Blue Angel jazz club, Epstein signed Cilla up as his only female client on 6 September 1963. The local music paper Mersey Beat misprinted her name as Cilla Black, but Epstein liked the sound of it.

Epstein introduced Cilla to George Martin who signed her to Parlophone Records and produced her debut single, "Love of the Loved" (written by Lennon and McCartney), which was released only three weeks after she signed with Epstein. The single peaked at a modest number 35, a failure compared to debut releases of Epstein's other artists.

Her second single, released at the beginning of 1964, was the Burt Bacharach-Hal David composition "Anyone Who Had a Heart". The single went to #1 in Britain and became, for that time, the biggest selling single by a female artist in the history of popular music in England. Her second UK #1 hit, "You're My World", was an English-language rendition of the Italian popular song Il Mio Mondo. She also enjoyed chart success with the song in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, South Africa and Canada. This was followed by another Lennon-McCartney composition, It's For You. Paul McCartney played piano at the recording session and the song proved to be another major international success for Black.

Cilla Black belonged to a generation of British female singers which included Dusty Springfield, Petula Clark, Sandie Shaw, and Lulu. These artists were not singer-songwriters but interpreters of Sixties contemporary pop song writers/producers. Cilla Black recorded a great range of material during this time, including songs written by Phil Spector, Randy Newman, Tim Hardin, and Burt Bacharach. All were produced by George Martin at Abbey Road Studios.

Black's version of "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" went to no. 2 in the UK charts and was stopped from going to no. 1 by the original version of the same song, performed by The Righteous Brothers. This was the first of only three occasions in the history of the British Top 40 where the same song, recorded by two different artists, held the top 2 positions in the chart in the same week.

Being so closely associated with The Beatles, Cilla became the first artist to cover many Lennon-McCartney compositions. Her recordings of "Yesterday", "For No One" and "Across The Universe" were critically acclaimed and became radio favourites. McCartney also went on record stating that Cilla's 1972 interpretation of "The Long And Winding Road" represented for him how he always intended the song to be sung.

Black's career in the United States, although launched enthusiastically by Epstein and his PR team - was limited to a handful of television appearances (the Ed Sullivan Show among them), a 1965 cabaret season at the Plaza Hotel in New York, and a hit with You're My World which reached #26 on the Billboard charts. The song was to be her only Stateside chart success, and Elvis Presley had a copy on his personal jukebox at his Graceland home. Cilla herself recognised that to achieve popular status in the USA she would need to devote a lot of time to touring there. But she was plagued by homesickness and a sense of loneliness and returned to the UK just as she was starting to make an impression on American consciousness.

In 1966, Black recorded the Bacharach-David song "Alfie", inspired by the film, Alfie. While the song was not included on the UK film version, Cher sang "Alfie" on the closing credits of the US version. Also, Alfie became a hit for Dionne Warwick in the States, but it was a major hit for Black in the UK, reaching #9 on the British charts. Cilla's version of "Alfie" was arranged and conducted by Bacharach himself at the recording session at Abbey Road. Bacharach insisted on several takes, and Black cited the Alfie recording session as one of the most demanding of her recording career. For Bacharach's part, he said "...there weren't too many white singers around which could convey the emotion that I felt in many of the songs I wrote but that changed with people like Cilla Black..."

By the end of 1966, Cilla Black was showing all the hallmarks of an all-round entertainer. That year she had guested on Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's Not Only... But Also, appeared in a Ray Galton-Alan Simpson revue in London's West End — Way Out In Piccadilly — alongside Frankie Howerd, made notable appearances on The Eamonn Andrews Show, and starred in her own television special (the first of its kind to be shown in colour), Cilla at the Savoy.

Brian Epstein's attempts to move Cilla Black into films were less successful. A brief appearance in the beat film Ferry Cross the Mersey and a leading role alongside David Warner in the 1967 psychedelic comedy Work Is a Four-Letter Word were largely ignored by film critics. In a 1997 interview with Record Collector magazine, Black revealed she was asked to appear in the 1969 film The Italian Job, playing the part of Michael Caine's girlfriend, but negotiations fell through between producers and her management over her fee.

Brian Epstein died of an accidental drug overdose in August 1967, after negotiating a contract with the BBC for his only female artist to appear in a series of her own. Relations between Epstein and Black had somewhat soured in the year prior to his death, largely due to the fact that Epstein was not paying her enough attention, and partly due to his public admission that he had taken LSD. In her autobiography, Cilla claims that Epstein had tried to pacify her by negotiating a deal that would see her representing the UK in the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest. However, Black refused on the basis that Sandie Shaw had won the previous year's contest, and that the chances of another British female artist winning were improbable.

The Beatles connection continued. At a Cannes Film Festival during the 1970s, Cilla joined George Harrison, Ringo Starr and glam-rock pop star Marc Bolan to attend a screening of the John Lennon-Yoko Ono experimental film Erection. She also holidayed with them on this trip aboard a yacht chartered by Ringo. Photograph was written on this trip — originally intended for Black to record — but Starr decided to record it himself. George Harrison also wrote two songs for Cilla: The Light That Has Lighted The World and I'll Still Love You (When Every Song Is Sung). The latter she recorded in 1974, but it was not heard publicly until 2003, when it surfaced on a retrospective collection entitled Cilla: The Best of 1963-78.

She shows an increasing reluctance to sing nowadays, though there have been two returns to the recording studio in recent times; 1993 saw Black releasing Through the Years, an album of new material featuring a number of duets with Dusty Springfield, Cliff Richard, and Barry Manilow. Ten years later she released the album Beginnings... Greatest Hits and New Songs.

In his 1969 study of pop history Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom, the rock journalist Nik Cohn wrote prophetically:

“It’s true — the British don’t like their girl singers to be too good, they think it smacks of emancipation, and Cilla at least seemed safe. Obviously, she was quite a nice girl. Also, she was respectable and reliable, very clean and quite unsexy, and she played daughter or maybe kid sister, steady date or fiancée, but she played nobody’s mistress at all. She wasn’t like that. Everyone patronized her like hell, waiting for her to fall, but then she didn’t fall after all, she floated instead and she’s still up there now. She won’t ever come down either — she doesn't sing much, she still comes on like a schoolgirl but she’s liked like that and she can’t go wrong. Genuinely, she’s warm and she makes people glow. In her time, she will grow into a pop Gracie Fields, much loved entertainer, and she’ll become institutionalized.”

Cilla Black outsold all other female recording artists in Britain during the 60s and was the second most successful act after the Beatles to emerge out of the 60s Liverpool Merseybeat boom. She has released 15 studio albums and 37 singles (many of which have charted world-wide).

In 2006–2007, Cilla's 1971 single "Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight)" was used as the soundtrack to a new British advertising campaign for Ferrero Rocher chocolates.

Over the 2008/09 Christmas/New Year pantomime season, Cilla Black returned to live musical performance in the pantomime "Cinderella", appearing as the Fairy Godmother. Cilla was part of an all Scouse cast assembled in this 3-hour stage spectacular to mark the end of Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture. The show incorporated a number of Cill's hits which she performed live, including "You're My World", "Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight)", "Step Inside Love" and "Sing A Rainbow". Cilla received rave reviews for her singing and overall performance.

Television career

The first series of Cilla was broadcast on Tuesday 30 January 1968. On the first show her guest was Tom Jones. The two pop stars sang a duet together. Paul McCartney (without Lennon) wrote the theme tune - another chart hit for Black - entitled "Step Inside Love". This song was later covered by Madeline Bell. Henry Mancini, Ringo Starr, Donovan, Georgie Fame and Dusty Springfield were among the artistes who appeared in the earlier series of Cilla, however many programmes were later wiped. Her BBC show was relatively successful and paved the way for a lengthy television career which continued intermittently until 2003.

Like so many of her contemporaries, during the 1970s her musical career was in decline, although she often toured. Increasingly thought of as a television "personality", she found herself experimenting with situation comedy for ITV in Cilla's World of Comedy and Cilla's Comedy Six. Her BBC series, Cilla, continued successfully until 1976, taking a break in 1970, 1972 and 1975. The theme songs from the Cilla series were also successful. "Step Inside Love" opened the series in both the 1968 and 1969 runs and reached number 8 in the UK singles chart on its release. Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight) was the theme for the 1971 and 1973 shows, reaching number 3 and becoming Cilla's last top ten hit. "Baby, We Can't Go Wrong" was used for the 1974 series and was a minor hit, reaching number 36, Cilla's last UK chart entry until 1993. "It's Now" was the final theme from the 1976 series and failed to reach the charts, albeit released as a "B" side.

The UK's Eurovision Song Contest entry selection process was part of the Cilla show in both 1968 and 1973, when her close friend Cliff Richard was the featured artist performing all the songs shortlisted in the A Song For Europe segment. Cilla herself was originally approached to sing for the UK in 1968 and was asked again for the 1970 contest, but declined; she was pregnant at the time.

By the beginning of the 1980s, Cilla Black was performing mainly in cabaret and concert, and had been absent from the small screen since a Thames Television special in 1978. In 1983 she appeared on the BBC's Wogan programme. Her appearance on this peak-time talk show was a major hit, and her career in television was resurrected. She signed a contract with London Weekend Television, which led to her becoming the host of Blind Date (1985–2003), Surprise, Surprise (1984–2001) and The Moment of Truth (1998–2001) . All programmes were mainstream ratings winners and consolidated her position as the highest paid female performer on British television.

Her TV appearances have made her spoken mannerisms ("Lorra lorra laughs" for example) and her habit of familiarly referring to her fellow presenters ("Our Graham") well known. Notable television appearances since her resignation from LWT have included Parkinson, So Graham Norton, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Room 101 and Cilla Live! for Living TV. Black was a judge on the first series of the Reality TV series Soapstar Superstar, has featured in an episode of the series Eating with... and has recently guest presented editions of The Paul O'Grady Show and The Friday Night Project for Channel 4.

Cilla Black is returning to TV screens in to front a new dating show for Sky One in 2009. Cilla will present Loveland, a ten-part dating "21st century" dating programme for the channel next year. Unlike on Blind Date, which Black hosted for 18 years, contestants will not sit in front of a studio audience but will be 'hidden' behind real-time animations as they date each other. Each episode concludes with the contestant picking their preferred animated character before meeting that person in real life. Black, 65, said she had been "captivated" by the "modern-day twist on the dating format" of the show, which brought "something new and exciting to the genre". "[The] unique animation may help couples find love and me the perfect hat," she added, referring to the collection of hats she amassed for the Blind Date weddings during her time on the ITV1 show. Richard Woolfe, director of programming for Sky One, Two and Three, said Black was "the undisputed queen of the dating show". "There's been many pretenders to her throne, but she remains in a class of her own," he added. "I'm thrilled she shares my passion for Loveland and for bringing the dating show kicking and screaming into the 21st Century."

Personal life

She attended St. Anthony's School, which was behind St. Anthony's Church in Scotland Road, and Anfield Commercial College.

She was married to her manager Bobby Willis (born 25 January 1942) for over 30 years until his death from lung cancer on 23 October 1999. They had three sons, Robert (now her manager, born in 1970), Ben (born in 1973), and Jack (born in 1980). After Willis's death, Black admitted to suffering a miscarriage in 1972. In 1975, while performing at the Coventry Theatre, she went into premature labour and was rushed to the Walsgrave Hospital where she gave birth to a daughter, Ellen, who died two hours later.

On August 4th, 2004, Cilla became a grandmother for the first time when her eldest son, Robert, and his wife, Fiona, had their first child, Max. Cilla's second grandchild, Alana, was born on February 6th, 2007.

Cilla part owns a website and phone line that offers premium-rate "psychic" advice to callers.

Cilla has previously been a keen supporter of the British Conservative Party. In 1992 she made prominent calls for the party's re-election.

* The Best of Cilla Black (1968, No. 21)* The Very Best Of Cilla Black (1983, No. 20)* Love, Cilla (1993)* The Abbey Road Decade 1963-1973 (3cds) (1997)* The 35th Anniversary Collection (1998)* The Best Of Cilla Black (Special Edition) (2002)* Cilla: The Best Of 1963-78 (3cds) (2003)* Cilla In The 60s (2005)* Cilla In The 70s (2005)

When I was younger *(ah hah ah hah ah hah)living confusion and deep despairwhen I was younger ah hahliving illusions of freedom and power

When I was youngerfull of ideals and broken dreams (my friend) *When I was younger ah haheverything simple but not so clear. *

(I was) living on borrowed timewithout a thought for tomorrow

Now I am olderthe more that I see the less I know for sureNow I am older ah hahthe future is brighter and now is the hour

Good to be olderwould not exchange a single day or a yearGood to be older ah hah

As Recorded by John Lennon (1980)

When I was younger ah hahLiving confusion and deep despairWhen I was younger ah hahLiving illusions of freedom and power

When I was younger ah hahFull of ideals and broken dreams, my friendWhen I was younger ah hahEverything simple but not so clear

Living on borrowed timeWithout a thought for tomorrowLiving on borrowed timeWithout a thought for tomorrow

Now I am older ah hahThe more I see the less that I know for sureNow I am older ah hahThe future is brighter and now is the hour

Living on borrowed timeWithout a thought for tomorrowLiving on borrowed timeWithout a thought for tomorrow

Good to be older ah haWould not exchange a single day or a yearGood to be older, you betLess complications, everything clear

Living on borrowed timeWithout a thought for tomorrowLiving on borrowed timeWithout a thought for tomorrow

Oh yes, it all seemed so bloody easy then. You know, like what to wear, very serious, like, you know, am I gonna get the little pimples? Does she really love me, and all that crap. But now I don't bother about that shit no more, I know she loves me. All I gotta bother about is standing up. Uh-doo-doo-doo-doo-da-da-da-da-da, ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah, uh... All right you can get out now....

Monday, June 15, 2009

Q: So, they were happy to pose like that? When you look at the picture, you know, there's sort of false teeth on one of their knees and...

WHITAKER: John played with all sorts of bits and pieces. Before we actually did the picture, I did a few more sort of outtake pictures which were of them actually playing with just a box full of dolls, which they pulled out and stuck all over themselves. And, I mean, that was just quite a funny sequence of pictures.

Really and truly, it's not important for the public to read in some symbolic meaning, because they're playing with a bunch of dolls. In all actual fact, if you were to look at Meret Oppenheim's Lunch in Fur, which is a tea cup and saucer and a spoon made out of fur, it's an apparent switch-around of how you think, you know, can you actually imagine drinking out of a fur tea cup? Well, putting dolls or meat or false teeth or eyes with the Beatles essentially is part of that breakdown of what one regards as normality. It's also, you know, it's a satired pun as well on... René Magritte said "This is not a pipe." He'd made a painting of a pipe, "Ceci n'est pas une pipe." And it's clearly obvious it's not a pipe, it's a painting on a wall, but it's a painting of a pipe, so he just underlines it and says "This is not a pipe," which is an absolutely true statement. And it's as much a true statement as, you know, this entitled, not by me, "butcher's sleeve." It causes an enormous amount of controversy, whereas if people would put their tongue in their cheek and laugh a bit about it, it could have treated with a certain amount of less ridiculous hypocrisy.

I think it was basically Capitol, who I think produced it, I honestly haven't got an enormous amount of history about this, apparently this is an enormous amount of documented history. Things that I've never heard of, but there was a fairly large outcry from various radio disc jockeys and things like that who were saying, "Well, we're almost retching with the disgust of this picture." Which was a shame, because if it had been taken in a more lighthearted vein, it might have got across.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

For the benefit of Mr. KiteThere will be a show tonight on trampoline.The Hendersons will all be thereLate of Pablo Fanques Fair - what a scene.Over men and horses, hoops and gartersLastly through a hogshead of real fireIn this way Mr. K. will challenge the world.

The celebrated Mr. K.Performs his feat on Saturday at Bishopsgate.The Hendersons will dance and singAs Mr. Kite flies through the ring - don't be late.Messrs. K. and H. assure the publicTheir production will be second to noneAnd of course Henry the Horse dances the waltz.

The band begins at ten to sixWhen Mr. K. performs his tricks - without a sound.And Mr. H. will demonstrateTen somersets he'll undertake on solid ground.Having been some days in preparationA splendid time is guaranteed for allAnd tonight Mr. Kite is topping the bill.

Barry Miles (or "Miles") (born 1943) is a British author. In the 1960s, he was co-owner of the Indica Gallery and helped start the International Times.

Life and work

Barry Miles was born in Cirencester, England.

In the 1960s, Miles was co-owner of the Indica Gallery, allowing him to meet many of the stars of the Swinging London social scene. Miles brought Paul McCartney into contact with people who wanted to start the International Times, which McCartney helped to fund. Miles would later become de facto manager of the Apple's short-lived Zapple Records label, and wrote McCartney's official biography, Many Years from Now (1998).

In 1965, Miles lived at 15 Hanson Street, London, and he and his wife introduced McCartney to Hash Brownies by using a recipe for Hash fudge which they had found in the Alice B. Toklas Cookbook.

With John Hopkins, Miles organized The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream, a concert on 29 April 1967 Alexandra Palace to raise funds for the International Times. It was a multi-artist event, featuring poets, artists and musicians. Pink Floyd headlined the event; other artists included: Yoko Ono and John Lennon, Arthur Brown, Soft Machine, Tomorrow and The Pretty Things.

Miles published a book named Hippie, telling the story of the hippie movement from the sixties to the early seventies with interviews, quotes, and images. He co-wrote I Want to Take You Higher (documenting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum exhibit by the same name) with Charles Perry and James Henke.

Miles has criticized musicians who speak out in support of Libertarian and or pro-Capitalist views. Artists he has clashed with include Neil Peart of the Canadian band Rush. An article about Rush written by Barry Miles in the March 4th 1978 edition of the UK's New Musical Express contained vehement attacks. Miles' book about Frank Zappa also sharply criticized Zappa's views toward business and labor unions. The views of such musicians contrast sharply with Miles' Socialist ideology.

Miles has written biographies of Paul McCartney, The Beatles, William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Frank Zappa, Charles Bukowski and Allen Ginsberg, as well as books about John Lennon, the Beatles, and The Clash. His book on Pink Floyd came out in September, 2007.